Review: “World of Sludge” EP by Annotations of an Autopsy

Hailing from Norwich are Annotations of an Autopsy, a 5 piece consisting of vocalist Steve Regan, drummer Neil Hayward, bassist Nath Applegate and axe wielding pair Sean Mason and Al Commons. They’ve been around since 2007 but dropped their first new song in eight long years with the title track of this EP in March. If it’s the follow up to 2007’s “Welcome to Sludge City” EP then we’re about to find out but Sludge certainly is a common theme…

Getting your title track out of the gate quick is a good sign for those looking for a tone setter for a piece of work. After 28 seconds of atmosphere building introduction “World of Sludge” drops into a Metallic Hardcore groove riff with just a hint of Slayer before smashing in with some brutally caustic unclean vocals from Regan that infuse a Hardcore lyrical styling with a Deathcore heavyweight champion throat shredding attack. The presence of Slam esq pig squeals over downtempo grooves that jump into blast beats keeps things flowing while the band change their groove sound like the gears shifting in an 18 wheeler. Dark and moody it sets things off nicely. Rasing the tempo “Too Weak to F*** with Me” comes in swinging with a blistering set of riffs as Regan calls out a coward that he clearly has beef with. Regan’s seamless climb into Slamming Deathcore and drop down for the odd word or line into Hardcore is refreshing and seriously impressive. Full of bark and bite “Killing the Industry” swirls around the drain like bloody water in the sink after a punch up. The bludgeoning rhythms of an impressive drum sound are testiment to Neil Hayward’s skills as well as his influences with as much Death Metal as their is Slam and Hardcore in the bands sound.

Squealing guitars taking a leaf from Fit For An Autopsy‘s song book cut through the main riff while the segmentation on this one between a clear trio of riffs works really well. The vocal blend on this one is interesting with half of it pure Slam and the other half being Hardcore bark and unlike the other tracks there isn’t much in between and at times Regan sounds like a snake. Certainly that closing breakdown has a slither to its downtempo groove that is addictive. Getting Scotty Hall of Street Soldier on their EP is a favour for a favour with Regan appearing on “Northern Hate”. Hall breaks up Regan’s seamless genre shifting with a barked Hardcore rap verse in typical fashion with Hardcore themes being the aim. It’s either a welcome break or moment of madness depending on the styling you’re a fan of. There is a clear Chelsea Grin influence on this one and it makes for a fine rounding off to the beast. If you’re looking for something that is skull crushingly heavy, then this is your bag [7/10].

Track listing

1. World of Sludge
2. Too Weak to F*** With Me
3. Killing the Industry
4. Stomped to Death
5. Murder ft. Scotty Hall of Street Soldier

“World of Sludge” by Annotations of an Autopsy is out now!